Still Here (Still Not That Bad)
by LolaLizTay
Summary: {Stuck Death Note sequel} Light's back, and it's up to our girls and their new friends to put a stop to Kira's reign once and for all. Can they do it? Or will they die trying? It's up to you to find out.
1. 1 - Emily

It was relatively quiet for a street in Japan. All I could hear was the sound of mine and Matt's breathing, along with the occasional car rumbling by on the next street over.  
Although there was something much more important I should have been focusing on, I couldn't tear my attention from the smoke that left our mouths every time either of us exhaled.  
My cigarette was done for, so I let it slip from my fingers and crushed it into the sidewalk with my boot. Matt still had half of his left, lucky bastard. I didn't want to ruin my _maximum-of-three-a-day_ thing by pulling out another.  
"Remind me why Mello isn't here, too," Matt said.  
"Because he's got his job and we've got ours," I replied, watching as he blew a large cloud of smoke into the air.  
"What exactly is his job? I feel like he's just hanging around while we do the hard stuff."  
"Yes, Matt, because watching Amane's hotel is so hard to do."  
He responded by blowing smoke in my face.  
I guess I deserved that.  
"To be completely honest," I said, "I have no idea what Mello is doing."  
"Maybe he's keeping us busy so he can sneak back to HQ and murder Near," Matt mused.  
"He hates Near, but not enough to kill him. You're really fucked up in the head you know that?"  
I couldn't see the bottom half of his face, but I'm pretty sure he was smiling.  
"Yeah, I know. You're pretty fucked up, too."  
"I take pride in that," I mumbled, turning my attention to the entrance of the hotel.  
I pulled my hands out of my pockets to pull up my hood.  
"This is so boring!" Matt said.  
"Yeah, and I don't think Amane is going to lead us to Light any time soon. He'd keep his distance until he absolutely needed her and the eyes."  
"How do you know?" he asked, looking at me.  
"I know Light Yagami. He'll do anything to stay hidden," I replied.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pull out his phone and dial someone's number—probably Mello's.  
"I don't think Amane is going to lead us to Light any time soon."  
Wow, way to steal what I said.  
"No... Maybe... Okay, yes! It was Aka that came to that conclusion."  
Thank you, Mello.  
"Alright. We'll be there in a few."  
"What's up?" I asked him.  
"We're wanted back at HQ," Matt told me.  
"Okay." I took one final glance at the hotel before running to catch up with Matt, who had started walking as soon as he hung up the phone.  
HQ was four blocks from the hotel Misa was staying at.  
"You're awfully quiet," Matt noted.  
"I'm just... Something has been bothering me these past few weeks..." I said, slipping my hands in my pockets.  
"And what would that be?" he asked.  
"Okay, let's assume for a second that Light got the Death Note from Ryuk. Why would Ryuk give it to Light again? Why not find some fresh meat or something?"  
"Maybe Ryuk genuinely liked Light..."  
I gave him a weird look.  
"I don't know. I didn't know who these Light and Ryuk guys were until two weeks ago."  
Two weeks ago, we discovered that, after five years, Kira was at work again.  
I sighed. "I wish I never knew who they were... But I guess if I never discovered them, I never would have been able to meet you and Mello."  
Matt grinned at me and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. "I can't imagine a life without you around to keep me entertained."  
"Or to babysit you," I added.  
"I do not need a babysitter—" I gave him the weird look again. "—Okay, maybe sometimes I do."  
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I mumbled.  
He simply shrugged.  
I swear the two of us were so close that people who didn't know us would think we were dating (I wouldn't mind that, to be honest). Mello and I are pretty close, but not as close as Matt and I.  
Partners in crime, Mello calls us.  
And if it weren't for me, Matt probably would have gotten himself killed a long time ago. He doesn't take things as seriously as he should.  
I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice that we arrived at HQ.  
Do you remember that giant building L had built? Yeah, it's that.  
We walked in, took the elevator up to the work floors, stripped off anything that would set off the metal detector, and went back to meet with the others.  
"No movement whatsoever," I announced as we walked in. "Not a trace of Light attempting to make contact with Misa, either, but I want permission to sneak in and bug her room if she ever decides to go out."  
"Permission granted," L said without turning away from the computer screen.  
Five years ago, I would have dreaded being in this building, but now that I knew that L was safe from death, it offered a strange sense of comfort.  
Since watching Misa's hotel was the only job I was given at the moment, I had some free time, so I sat on one of the couches with my PSP and played _Star Wars: Battlefront II_.  
"Damn Droidekas," I grumbled as I was killed by one of the roly-poly battle droids.  
As you can see, I'm pretty useless around here, so I'm resolved to playing the same video game over and over again.  
"Em... Hey, Em..."  
"What?" I asked, keeping my eyes on my game.  
"We're gonna be keeping an eye on the hotel again tomorrow," Matt said, "and if Amane leaves at all, we're gonna sneak in and bug the room she's in."  
"And how exactly will we find out what room she's in?" I switched my PSP to sleep mode and set it on the table in front of me, giving Matt my full attention.  
"Well, I was thinking you could disguise yourself as Amane and pretend you forgot your room key in your room," he explained. "And if the guy at the desk asks for proof that you're her, well, forgery is kinda your specialty."  
I cracked a smile. "Alright, fine. I'll do it."  
"Great, so it's a plan."  
Oh, _fuck_. What have I gotten myself into?

**_(Hello, everyone! Welcome to the sequel of Stuck in the Death Note Universe! If you're reading this right now that means that you liked the first one enough to read to the end and even into the sequel, and for that I thank you. All the views and reviews really mean a lot and the motivate all three of us to keep writing.)_**


	2. 2 - Amanda

I'm not sure I'm very comfortable with Emily putting herself on the line like this.  
She had just spent two hours buying some Misa-esque clothes, and now she was stuffing them in a bag to go out and sneak into Misa's room if she was able to.  
I wish I was able to go with her.  
"Amanda?"  
"Yes, Lawliet?" I asked, looking over at L.  
He slid over a piece of strawberry cake. Of course. "Are you alright? You seem troubled."  
Aww, all the sugar from the sweets he eats goes right into his personality. He's not as cold and emotionless as everyone thinks.  
"I'm fine," I said. "I'm just a little worried about Emily, that's all."  
"I'm confident that she will get out of this alive. She seems to be good at getting out of bad situations."  
I smiled. "Yeah, I guess."  
I turned in my spinny chair (oh yeah, be jealous) and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.  
"Thanks, I feel a little better now," I told him.  
He nodded and returned to his work. I did the same.  
Ariel was sitting behind me on one of the couches, a map spread across the table. Matsuda read her coordinates where bodies were found and she marked them on the map. They were trying to pinpoint a certain area where the killings were happening.  
A few times I had heard Ariel say some variation of how Light has gotten more clever, and sometimes she'd curse his name.  
Ah, she makes me laugh.  
"Alright, we're off!"  
I spun around and watched as Emily slung the bag over her shoulder and waved, walking out with Matt.  
_Please come back okay..._  
I turned back to the many papers on the table in front of me; autopsy reports and whatnot.  
Every single one of them said heart attack as cause of death.  
"We're gonna find you, Yagami..." I whispered, tucking the reports into the file that sat on the table.  
Everyone is worried that I'm over-working myself, but I'm only putting in a little more effort than usual. I've been working hard to stop Light for good ever since we found out about his return.  
Is that so bad?  
I guess Ariel had been trying to get my attention, but got a little irritated when I didn't respond, so she got up and grabbed the back of my chair, pulling me over to where she was sitting.  
"The pattern is totally random," she said, "but—" She pointed to an area on the map where multiple dots were clustered together. "—I'd say this is the general area of killing. He's got to be somewhere around this area."  
"Great job, guys. Finish up anything else you have to do then go get some sleep. L and I can do the rest."  
"Are you kidding?" Matsuda asked. "We're not making you guys do all the work!"  
I sighed, shaking my head. "Okay, fine. But eventually you guys have to get some rest."  
"Don't worry, we will," Ariel promised.  
I nodded and scooted back over to my original spot.  
Light Yagami, we will find you and bring you to justice once and for all.

**_(Hey, guys! This chapter is kinda short, but that's only because I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long! Ariel is sick again (poor thing) but she's gonna try and get her chapter written anyways! Enjoy, bye!)_**


	3. 3 - Ariel

"What the hell do you mean you guys are going off on your own?!"

"Exactly that." Mello stared Amanda right in the eye without blinking. "We're going off to do our own investigation."

We were informed of this as soon as they returned from Misa's hotel.

"Emily? Matt?"

Neither of them responded, they just kept their eyes trained on the floor.

Of course, they had no say in the decision.

I took the silence as my opportunity to finally speak up. "Just be careful. Take care of each other."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Mello said.

Emily and Matt silently gathered their things and put them in Emily's bag. They didn't have much.

Once Matt had hold of the bag, Emily ran over and hugged Amanda.

"You be careful," Amanda told her. "You understand me?"

"Yes," Emily whispered, nodding.

"Come on, Aka," Matt said, holding his hand towards her.

She took it, and they followed Mello out.

Amanda returned to her seat.

After a moment, I heard her breathing become ragged.

She was crying.

"Amanda?" L looked concerned as he reached over and touched her shoulder.

She shook off his hand, rising out of her seat and wiping her eyes. "I... I need a moment..."

She rushed from the room. L got up and followed not long after.

I was alone now. Who's great idea was this?

I suppose there was really nothing I could hurt myself with, but I still didn't trust myself alone. I wanted Touta to get back soon before I found a way to hurt myself.

"Deep breaths," I mumbled to myself as I stretched out on the couch.

As I stared up at the oh-so-far-away ceiling, I wondered what day it was. It had been a while since I checked. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the date.

January 14th. In exactly two weeks I turn twenty-four.

Two days before that, Matt and Mello die.

Let's hope that last thing doesn't happen.

Hey, maybe if I'm lucky, Light will still die on the twenty-eighth.

Am I a horrible person for saying that?

"Hey, where'd everyone go?" Touta asked as he sat on the spot of the couch that I wasn't covering and set a bag of food on the table.

"The trio went off on their own, Amanda ran off crying and L followed her, and Near..." I lifted my head and looked around. "I dunno. I lost him."

"What do you mean the trio went off on their own?" He looked at me with an expression of pure confusion.

"I mean they went off on their own investigation. It was Mello's idea."

"Matt and Emily didn't have a say in it?"

I shook my head, turning my attention from the ceiling to him. "Amanda's really upset."

"Is that why she was crying?" he asked.

"Yeah... I think she's worried about Emily..." I said.

"I would be, too."

"You still don't trust Mello, do you?"

He shook his head and I frowned.

"I think he's proven that we can trust him..."

"I guess... But I don't know... I still don't fully trust him."

I shrugged.

He brushed my bangs off my forehead. "How do you feel about all this?"

"I'm worried about her, yeah," I said, "but I trust Matt and Mello to take care of her and themselves."

I looked up when I heard the door open. Amanda and L were back.

Amanda had a lost look in her eyes, and L was holding tight onto her hand. He seemed to be pulling her along.

"Are you okay, Amanda?" I asked, sitting up.

"She'll be okay," L replied. "She'll be awhile, but she'll be fine."

He lead her back to her chair and sat her down, sitting in his own seat. He kept a firm hold on her hand.

Poor Amanda...

With all the work she's been doing, she doesn't deserve this stress.

I turned and laid my head on Touta's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, tilting his head so I could kiss him.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Alright." He wrapped his arms around my waist. "How about we go get some sleep? You've gone long enough without it."

"We both have..." I mumbled.

I _was_ tired. I mean, I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

"Come on, you."

He stood up, pulling me with him. Grabbing the bag, he looked over at L and Amanda.

"Will you guys be alright by yourselves?"

L nodded. "Go sleep."

Touta lead me from the room. I leaned against him to avoid falling over. We walked to our room, which was up one floor and the third door on the right.

Once we were inside, I stumbled into the bedroom and fell on the bed. Before sliding under the covers, I untied and kicked off my boots. Touta took off his own shoes and got in bed next to me.

I turned and cuddled into him.

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I replied, yawning.

I closed my eyes, and soon fell asleep.

**_(Bonjour, people! I have an announcement! Emily's friend, Stephanie, will be joining the line-up, so let's all give her a warm welcome! :) Her chapters will come right after mine so she's up next. See ya lates, bye!)_**


	4. 4 - Stephanie

**_(Everyone welcome my friend Stephanie to the mix! :D ~Emily)_**

"Emily!? Where are you?" I screamed trying to find out where Emily, Amanda, and Ariel went, I was hopelessly lost in the forest after a while.

As my clumsy self I fell right into a hole. I climbed out then two super fast motorcycles just passed right by me—almost killing me.

The one biker got off of their bike walking towards me, she took off the helmet.

"I am so sorry that I almost hit you, hey wait a minute Stephanie?" The biker said, I looked harder, it was Emily! "Why are you here, why do you have a bike?"

"Aka we need to go!" the other biker screamed, I recognized the voice, he still had his helmet on.

The biker walked over while taking off his helmet, it was Mello!

"Umm.. Em?" I shoved her over to the sidewalk and asked her if she knew why I was seeing Mello.

"First how did you get here?" Em replied

"I don't know! Where am I? All I remember is that I fell though a hole, now I'm here."

"Same, and we are in the Death Note universe."

I froze with a weird expression on my face, I didn't know what happened but the next thing I know I hit the floor, everything turned black.

When I woke up I was on a couch, Em sat next to me telling me, "Well we brought you to HQ because this is where everyone is staying right now we will be right back, of you want I'll wake up Ariel and Amanda."

I nodded.

I sat there staring at the wall for about the longest five minutes ever in my life, I heard a door slam, and the Ariel came through the door calmly saying, "Hey, Emily left to do something she will be right back, but we will be here to talk to you if you want."

I've always liked Ariel, she is so nice. I only met her once before this but I like her anyhow.

"So are you ok? You did pass out."

"Oh, yeah I fainted, I thought I saw Mello, and Matt."

"Haha, yeah you did."

"Wait what! I cou-"

I got interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Who is this?" It was Matsuda!

I froze, I was surprised I didn't faint.

"Hello, I'm Matsuda. What's your name?"

I thought real hard trying hard not to start crying with happiness, but I could be dreaming, or I'm ill and I'm in a coma from falling in the hole. Maybe I'm dead, and this is my happy life.

"Her name is Stephanie," Amanda said walking in.

"By the look on your face, you're confused," she said to incorporate more information. I was thinking if this was my happy place, where is L, and what happened to Light?

Amanda brought in a familiar figure, L. I was probably frozen with confusion for about ten minutes.

"Where are we? And why are we here? And what the hell is going on!" I shouted, trying not to freak anyone out.

L walked over to me and asked, "So your Stephanie, don't worry I am not Kira your identity is safe with me."

I nodded.

"Hey is Steph up yet?" I heard Emily scream from just outside the door, she got home, she was ok, and I was fine. L's phone rang, he told us, "Okay guys we need to get into a meeting with the Task Force about Kira."

They brought me along since they couldn't just leave me there. The first thing they did was talk about how Kira was back, and that Kira was ready to battle once more.

**_Authors note: Sorry if at first, I was off topic, I needed to add how I got into the story, I'm super happy to be involved now! Also if you guys want you can help me get involved more if you start thinking of some ideas for me, thanks!_**


	5. 5 - Emily

"Matt, shut the hell up!"

I was trying to focus on the surveillance from Misa's room, and it was impossible to do so with Matt talking away.

He looked at me, startled by my sudden outburst, but shut his mouth.

"Thank you," I mumbled, grabbing my earbuds and plugging them into the computer the cameras were hooked up to.

I stuck them in my ears and turned up the volume a little bit.

Even though Matt was quiet now, I still couldn't focus.

_How had Stephanie ended up here? Had she been looking for me? If so, why was she the only one? Did no one else care?_

Great, now I depressed myself...

"This is so boring!" I yelled, yanking the earbuds out of my ear and throwing them onto the keyboard. "There's no movement at all!"

"Told you..." Matt muttered, not even looking up from his video game.

Of course.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat. "Mello, I really hate you."

"No, you don't," Mello said. "You're just mad at me because I made you separate from your cousin. You survived five years without her, why can't you go just a few weeks?"

I glared at him. "That's not the point. The point is we were supposed to work together—as a team!"

"We are working as a team!"

"Just the three of us is not a team!" I yelled, jumping to my feet.

"Why are you so mad?! You said so yourself, the less people are around, the less problems we have!" he yelled back.

"Will both of you just shut the hell up?!"

Startled, I spun around and looked at Matt, who had rose from his seat. I backed up a step, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"You aren't allowed anywhere near Mello until both of you calm down," he said.

I nodded, gulping, and returned to the couch.

I have to admit, I was so angry and frustrated I could have cried.

Last time Mello and I fought like this, we ended up ignoring each other for a month. I'm hoping it doesn't end up like that again because in the mental state I'm in right now, I need both of my boys.

"It's his trust issues, Aka," Matt murmured. "He's so used to it being just the three of us, and you know he has a hard time trusting others."

"I know..." I whispered, "But I wish he'd give it a chance..."

Matt barely chuckled. "You know Mello. He's not gonna do that."

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah... I know that..."

He put his arm around my shoulder. "Don't be so upset. It's his problem, not yours."

I nodded, whispering, "Okay."

"Here," he pulled my PSP out of his pocket and handed it to me, "shoot some bitches dead."

When I turned it on, I was greeted by the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare menu.

_What?_

Matt must have sensed my confusion, because he said, "I knew you'd be pissed at Mello, so I figured instead of shooting him, you could shoot some Russians."

I hugged him the best I could while sitting. "Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem."

After plugging my earbuds back into my iPod and sticking them in my ears, I put Shiver by The GazettE on repeat and curled up in my end of the couch to play Call of Duty.

I have no clue how long I was playing the game, but I grew tired after a long while.

So, I shut off the music and my PSP, tossed them on the table, swung my legs up over Matt's lap, and leaned against the arm of the couch to sleep.

As I stared up at the ceiling, I barely saw Matt reach down and pick something up off the floor.

When he handed it to me, I realized it was my most prized possession—my stuffed dog, Polar Bear.

I've had her since I was at least five or six. I never slept without her. Ever.

"Thanks," I whispered, holding the dog to my chest and burying my face in the back of her neck.

He patted my knee, and I glanced at him for a split second before returning my gaze to the ceiling.

I like to count how many squares the bars make... It's somehow calming...

Sleep overcame me before I reached ten.

Every time.

**_(It took a long time, I know, I know... Forgive me pls... 3: Anyways, I'm in the process of a cold so the last part of the chapter might have sucked idk... Byesies...)_**


	6. 6 - Amanda

I am über pissed at Mello at the moment.

The whole point of building this damn building was so that we could all hang around and work together, but he had to go and gamernap Emily and Matt so they could go off on their own investigation.

Stupid Mello.

Anyways, I was sitting on the floor next to Near, switching through newspaper and magazines and recording where exactly in them Kira was mentioned.

After a while of wondering, I had come to the conclusion that someone—probably Ryuk—had used the Death Note to make the prison guard free Light before dying of a heart attack.

It's the only reasonable explanation.

As for Misa, I have no idea.

Near was flipping through news stations and doing the same thing I was doing, except he was also writing down any important information as well.

"You're awfully quiet."

I glanced up from the newspapers to find Near studying me intently.

"Am I supposed to be talking?" I asked.

"You usually have something to say," he said.

I shrugged. "I really don't at the moment..."

He nodded once before returning to his work.

Once I finished the last magazine, I piled them neatly on the table and brought my notebook to L.

"Here ya go, sweetcheeks," I said, setting the notebook on the table and quickly kissing his cheek.

He shook his head at me, which made me grin.

"You think you're so funny."

My grin only widened.

"Actually, I do. I think I'm hilarious."

"Now she talks," I heard Near mutter behind me.

"Don't be jealous, Nate," I said, turning to face him. "I still like you."

I knew I was going to pay for calling him by his real name in some way.

_Lil' shit better not surround my chair with Legos._

(Note to self: Hide Near's Legos.)

Suddenly, Ariel burst through the door, Matsuda following close behind.

"Guys," they said simultaneously, "turn on News 6!"

Curious and a bit scared, I picked up the TV remote and turned it on to the channel they said.

A familiar face was on screen.

"Good evening. This is Kiyomi Takada on News 6. From today on, it is my duty to send you Kira's words instantaneously and accurately."

"Are you fucking kidding?!" I screamed at the TV.

_No, no, no, no, no... If Takada has already been chosen, then things are about to make a turn for the worst..._

Matt! Mello!

I jumped from my chair and ran over to the phone. In a second it was in my hand and Emily's number was dialed.

After a moment, Emily answered.

"Heyo?"

"Em, bad news! Takada has just been chosen as Kira's spokesperson!" I said.

I heard her breath hitch.

"Are... Are you serious?" she asked.

"Dead serious," I replied. "Keep a close eye on the idiots."

Then I hung up.

I returned to my seat, switching off the TV.

"Things are starting to get bad..." Ariel mumbled.

"They got bad a long time ago," I reminded her.

She sighed. "I guess..."

"Hey, we got dis!" I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She dropped her head, but I saw her smile.

_Score._

"Now, come on..." I mused, "We've got work to do..."

Sitting down in my chair and turning to the computers, there was only one thing on my mind:

_Yagami, you are going down._

**_(Ayoo! Sorry this took so long pls forgive me? I had a hard time writing this bc writers block, but after going back and watching Death Note I got some inspiration so it became a little easier... I'll make sure Ariel gets her chapter done real quick so you doods aren't left waiting again...)_**


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